Lithium
by Jasmini
Summary: I was head over heels in love with her, but then as soon as I realized that she was transformed into the bird that bears her name. I worked to change her back into the girl she was, but in the end all I did was make things worse.


It's been forever since I've seen Princess Tutu so please give me a break. Like most of the stories in this section this is the ending I would have wanted if I had been the writer in the story. So I will basically continue where the anime left off.

Summary: I was head over heels in love with her, but then as soon as I realized that she was transformed into the bird that bears her name. I worked to change her back into the girl she was, but in the end all I did was make things worse.

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Chapter 1: From Bittersweet to Tragedy

Fakir stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of him with a sad expression on his face. He just couldn't find the words to put on the paper. It'd been two years since the final battle. The battle in which Muto defeated the Monster Raven, a feat impossible without the aid of Ahiru. On that very same day Muto found his happiness, his princess, and his fairy tale ending. But what about Ahiru? What did she have to show of her efforts? She had her very own life taken away from her. She had all her friends, her love of ballet, and her very body taken away in one full swoop. Did anyone but him see the injustice?

Fakir would watch her from time to time. Whenever he was in her presence she would put on façade acting happy by swimming pleasantly, quaking in response whenever she could. But when she thought he wasn't watching he could see the forlorn expression on her face. He could see the reaching look in her eyes when she saw people walking by. An expression that turned even worse when she saw people dancing.

Fakir knew that expression all too well. He had it whenever he saw a couple together. He felt his heart crumbling whenever he would see a pair together doing anything from holding hands to arguing to kissing. He wished he could have the chance to do those things with the one he loved.

Isn't it ironic that once his cold, unfeeling heart found the one it was searching for, that person was snatched from his grasp? Not a day goes by that he wishes that he could run his hands through her long hair, which he was hoping would be free of its ridiculous braid and be let to flow freely. Not a day went by that he didn't wish that he could finally release his unspoken feelings from his lips.

And maybe he was being selfish. Maybe it was wrong for him to only think about himself and his desires. But he couldn't hold back what he was feeling anymore. He wanted to have her back in his life, not as a bird that he visits everyday as he fishes into a pond that neither has, nor has never had, any fish, but as a human being, as his best friend, and as the girl he fell in love with.

He had been trying for all this time to turn her back into human but nothing he tried ever worked. From every angle his writings were never spun into reality. He had tried expressing what Ahiru desired on paper so many times that he lost track. But maybe that was it. Maybe he wasn't as sure of her desires as he thought.

But is that even possible? Did she want to remain a duck? No. She obviously did not. She would not look so close to tears if she did. She wouldn't have such a reaching expression.

He had no idea what to do anymore. This was one feeling he wasn't used to. Nothing could be worse than the situation he was currently in.

He slowly began to let the words flow onto paper. He didn't realize the repercussions of what he was writing.

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Ahiru was waiting on the edge of the pond. Fakir had promised that he was going to visit her after this afternoon. His visits were one of the few excitements she ever gets, and she misses him deeply when he is away. She saw him coming and let out an excited quack. But the expression on his face was different than usual. He was up to something she just knew it.

He approached the edge of the dock and Ahiru looked up at him with inquisitive eyes. "Quack?" she let out, but what she really meant to say was, '_What's going on?'_ Fakir sat on the deck and looked out onto the lake. "I'm going to try something okay? And although I already know you'd probably object to it, I'm going to do it anyway." he said. If it were possible the little bird would have raised an eyebrow. 'What's he doing' Ahiru thought.

Fakir reached into the pond and lifted her from the water. Ahiru was too shocked to do more than let her jaw slack. Fakir was usually stern about keeping Ahiru in the pond, so it was a wonder as to why so suddenly he took her out of the water.

They approached his cottage and he carried her off to his room. He placed her on the bed. 'Quack' Ahiru let out, but he simply ignored her and maneuvered toward his desk.

He took out a few pieces of parchment and sat down next to her. "I'm going to read you something I wrote okay?" He then began to read her the story he had written.

_There was once a boy. He was very selfish and uncaring. Many thought he was heartless and that he was destined to live alone. Little did the people know, inside he was dying. After loosing his family and all he held dear he began to loose his hope for himself. He was at the edge of a cliff and was about to jump when he heard a voice. _

"_WAIT!!" she called. She ran up to him and straddled him by the waist. "Don't do it!" she whispered. "Please." she let out. He shoved the girl off him. She was a hindrance. "Get away." he said, "This has nothing to do with you." The girl was persistent she went beside him and said, "But it has everything to do with me. I've seen what you're about to do, I can't just walk away. It would curse myself for the rest of my life saying, 'If I had only helped that poor boy, maybe he'd still be alive today.' therefore if you jump, I'm afraid I'd have to follow you." she said._

_The boy stared at her incredulously. He'd never seen such stupidity before. "Well that's fine by me; it's your own life you're wasting." He got ready for the jump again when she pulled him back once again. "WAIT" she cried. By this time tears were falling down her eyes. "At least tell me why. And then if you still want to, you can jump and I won't bother you." she said._

_The boy looked at her and at the tears she was crying. He decided to comply. She would only hold him off for a few minutes after all. So he began to tell her about what happened to his family._

"_Little over a year ago my family was brutally murdered in a robbery. They would have killed me too if they hadn't hidden me in a closet. I watched them kill my mother and my father before my very eyes. They then took my sister and kidnapped her. I spent a long time trying to find her but in the end I gave up. I ran out of food and was soon forced to live on the streets. No one paid any attention to me or tried to help me. I'm done waiting for my savior to arrive." he finished. Seeing as that was now done he rose up and walked toward the crag, until her voice sounded again._

"_So you're all alone too?" she asked, with her head hung low. The boy turned around and looked at her again. "I...umm...was in an accident, when I was five. I lost all of my memory. I couldn't remember who my parents were, and the villagers gave me the name 'Ahiru' because they said I wobbled like a duck. No one would take me in so I lived on the streets, living off of small scraps of food that the maids of the houses gave me out of pity." The boy gave the girl all of his attention. She then continued, "But then I found this old abandoned cottage here." She pointed toward a small house hidden by trees. "I manage to make money as a maid, but it gets lonely. You could stay with me if you'd like." she said with bright eyes. _

_The boy was taken aback. No one had ever shown him such kindness before. He couldn't completely believe it. "Why?" he uttered. "Because, I was once just like you and I wished somebody would have done the same for me." she said with a smile._

_The boy lived with the girl for a long time. And little by little he began to fall in love. He regarded her as his savior. His light. She moved his cold heart and little by little he began to feel again. But she was slowly loosing herself. She would forget she was doing things and soon she couldn't remember who he was anymore. He would go to the ends of the world to get her memory back. He would do anything. He just wanted the girl he fell in love with back. And he wanted to tell her he loved her._

Ahiru had tears in her little duck eyes, as the story came to its conclusion. "The boy in the story and I are one in the same." Fakir said, "I love you Ahiru, so please, please come back to me." he said.

Suddenly her body became aglow and enveloped in light. Fakir stood there shocked as her small bird body was replaced by that of a teenage girl, with the same salmon pink hair that he remembered. He reached forward and ran his fingers through her long hair with shaking hands. As out of character it may be, he found a goofy smile grazing his lips.

She was sprawled out unconscious on the bed…naked. Despite having the lewd mind of a teenage boy, he managed to keep his wandering eyes on her face. The face whose beauty seemed to have grown tenfold since the last time he'd seen it. He couldn't wait for her eyes to open and to see those blue eyes once again. He saw her shiver so he brought a blanket and placed it on top of her.

Agonizingly slow, her eyes opened and Fakir's heart stuttered, upon seeing them. He ran his fingers across her fringe. Forever he'd be with this girl. Even if she could never feel the same way about him, he'd still stand by her.

He watched as she slowly regained consciousness, and uttered words that killed his heart.

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_Who are you?_

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Yes, yes I'm a horrible person lol please review


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